The labor dispute in Standard Chartered Bank Korea has entered a critical phase again as its management recently failed to reach a compromise with the union.

The union of Standard Chartered has threatened to stage a general strike amid the standstill in their negotiations with the management.

Though the unionized workers, who went on a walkout between June and August, returned to work, the dispute has not been resolved, according to bank spokespeople.

“They are working at branches. But their protest is still underway,” a spokesman said.

The union has said that it would go on strike unless there is a compromise by the end of February.

The ongoing protest of the union is against the proposed introduction of a performance-based pay system and several others have been dragging out.

They are reportedly prepared to resist any pressure from management as long as their demands are not accepted.

While the management said the bank has made concessions in the proposed performance-based pay system, the union downplayed the move.

The management said the introduction of the new system would be further discussed, the union said they regard the task force as a cursory process to implement the system from 2012.

If the system is introduced, Standard Chartered will become the first bank in the country to abandon a seniority-based pay scheme for competitive salaries.

Meanwhile, the bank has been speeding up its manpower restructuring, as unionized workers’ long-running walkout failed to garner wide support from the public.

“Its action of the early retirement program for executives, executive directors and deputy CEOs shows the management’s strong resolution not to bend to the union’s tackle,” a source close to the bank said.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)